The Tale of the Gnarg
by Radar-rox
Summary: The boys and tara spent a weekend in the woods, where Naboo recalls the tale of the dreaded Gnarg.
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is, the new Tara fic. This one will be shorter than my usual multi-chaptered fics, only about 3 chapters i reckon. **

**N.B - from now on, all Tara/Naboo fics will be referred to as 'Taboo' (thanks to cookiemunster!) becuase its quick to write and fun to think about when people use 'taboo' in its usual context.**

**Disclaimer - all things Boosh belong to two lovely blokes called Noel and Julian, Tara belongs to me.**

They were driving down from London, Howard at the wheel, Naboo and Bollo in the back and Vince reading _Earlobe_, 'the sexy new style bible' as he put it.

Howard glanced across at him. 'Why do you keep changing magazine hmm? Why cant you be loyal to a particular one, like me, I'm a loyal subscriber to _The Global Explorer_ and _The Jazz Mogul._'

'_Jazz Mogul_?' Vince asked in disbelief.

'Yes sir.'

'I have to keep changing magazine, fashion magazines go in cycles, like fashion, one week _Cheekbone_ will be in style, at the cutting edge, another week it'll be _Eyebrow_, this week its _Earlobe_ – the ears of fashion.'

Howard shook his head. 'What time did Tara say she wanted to meet us again?'

'She said she'd be there about 1.'

'I bet you're looking forward to seeing Tara again, eh Naboo?' Howard asked over his shoulder.

'Yeah.' He smiled. 'I haven't seen her for a couple of weeks.'

Vince was about to nod, and then realised what Naboo had said. 'What?'

'A couple of weeks.' He looked at their faces. 'I do have a magic carpet, remember? I see her a lot.'

'You take her out much Naboo, or do you just, y'know, stay in?' asked Howard.

He frowned a little. 'I dunno, both. Why?'

'No reason.'

Naboo rolled his eyes.

A couple of hours later, after Vince's map reading 'skills' had got them hideously lost and forced them to ring Tara for directions, the pulled into a small car park, surrounded by trees.

Tara was sat cross-legged on the top of the van reading a book. When she saw them in she leapt down, hopped around in pain for a few seconds, then leant casually against the van to give the impression that all was well.

Howard pulled up next to her and they all got out, Naboo first. He hurried round to Tara and kissed her hello. They pulled apart as the others emerged from the van and assembled nearby.

'Hey' she smiled. 'I missed you.'

'Missed you too.' He kissed her again briefly, but pulled away before one of the others felt the need to give an awkward cough.

'Hey guys!' she said, hugging them all. 'Don't worry, I missed you too. How are you?'

'I've been good thanks, working on some modal jazz pieces, they're progressing well, hoping they might be picked up any day now.'

'Cool.' She nodded, humouring poor Howard.

'What are we doing down here anyway?' asked Vince.

'I told you, I always have to come up to London to visit you, now its your turn to visit me!'

'Why here though, there's nothing to do!'

'Vince, for goodness sake, I'm sure you'll be able to cope for a few days! We grew up in the forest, remember?'

'Yeah, but I didn't like it'

'Don't give me that, you loved it, I remember you sobbing because you didn't want to leave.'

Vince looked embarrassed. 'Shut up. I liked life in the city more once I got used to it, its perfect now, its where I'm meant to be.'

'Shouldn't the forest be where you're meant to be? Its where you grew up.'

'Yeah, but not where I was happiest was it?'

'You've just forgotten the simple things in life. You sell-out.'

Her cheeky smirk told him she was joking, but he carried on anyway, he loved 'arguing' with Tara. 'You just cant handle the fast life.'

'I can handle the fast life, I'm a fast life kinda gal, they call me Mistress Fast. But anyway, the forest is your natural home because its where you were born, where your life began.'

'Don't get philharmonical on me.'

'You mean philosophical Vince.'

'Whatever.'

She chuckled and spoke up so the others could hear. 'I found a little clearing not too far away that looks like it might be a good place to camp.'

'Lead the way.'

Tara grabbed her rucksack and started into the woods, Naboo at her side holding her hand, and the others a few paces behind them.

'Long drive?' asked Tara as they strolled hand in hand through the trees as though the woodland was made solely for the two of them.

'It was alright. I think Howard was trying to find out if we'd had sex or not yet.'

'Nosey sod!' she grinned.

'Were you waiting long for us?'

'Little while, not that I minded. I thought I saw a large red mutant squirrel.' Naboo turned in surprise. 'Turned out it was just a fox.'

**Like it so far? The please review, my lovely little people!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you everyone for reviews (thanks to Helen for pointing out my little mistake - I should really learn not to proof-read when I'm tired!), and without further ado, I give you... chapter 2!**

They arrived at Tara's suggested campsite. It was a small clearing in the woodland, on a slight slope and looking out over distant moorland. If they listened carefully, they could hear the babbling of a stream nearby.

'What do you think?'

'Looks good to me.' said Howard, switching on his 'wilderness man' mode. 'Good southern exposure, the slope will prevent puddling, fresh water supply…'

'It had better not be too windy here, I don't want my hair getting messed up.' Interrupted Vince.

'Honestly Vince, whose gonna see you?'

'Oh god, don't let him launch into the 'passing photographer' tale again, please' begged Howard.

'Here Vince' said Bollo, passing him a hat. 'You wear this, it protect hair and make you look pretty.'

'Isn't that my hat?' asked Tara.

'Vince look prettier in it.'

'Bollo!' Naboo scolded, but Tara simply laughed.

'No, hat hide Tara's pretty face.' Explained Bollo.

'What about my pretty face?' asked Vince.

Bollo looked between the two of them before saying 'Bollo digging himself hole' and sitting down.

'So, do you want to get set up or have lunch first?' asked Tara.

'Lunch, I'm starving' said Howard, and they all agreed. 'Vince, how can you be starving, you were scoffing sweets for the whole trip!'

'So?'

Tara shook her head, lamenting her brothers unfairly small frame. 'Lunch it is then. I couldn't be bothered to carry it back to the van, so I slung it up there.' She said, pointing upwards at a nearby tree where a canvas bag was suspended by a rope.

They looked up at it, puzzled. Howard began to voice their thoughts. 'But how're-'

Tara held up her hand. 'Allow me.' she took a rope from her rucksack, knotted it around her waist and threw it up into the tree. She then proceeded to scurry up the trunk, quick as a sack of lemons, and sat astride of a branch while undoing the knot that secured the rope which was suspending the food. 'Its coming down!' she cried, letting the rope slide through her fingers to Vince's awaiting arms. She tied a fancy-looking knot in the rope, securing it around a branch as she began her descent.

'Careful!' called Vince.

'For goodness sake Vince, I do this all the time.' She called back, climbing from branch to branch, holding onto the rope for safety. They watched in awe as she landed delicately on the ground and walked towards them, only slightly hindered by the rope still tied around her waist. 'Oh, right.' She untied herself, and with a sharp yank the knot came loose, and the rope fell to her feet.

As she wound it up for storage, Bollo spoke. 'Tara, you climb tree better than Blinko, Chinko's brother. He best climber in all family, he climb tree so high he come back down with airline peanuts.'

'How did you do that?' asked Naboo.

'I took a climbing course a couple of years ago.'

'And all this?' asked Howard, indicating Tara's bag which contained, amongst other things, an axe, a machete and a Swiss army knife.

'I watch Ray Mears. Shall we eat?'

They spread out a blanket that Howard had brought from the van and began to share out the sandwiches.

'Who wants chicken?' asked Tara, holding them up.

'Depends,' said Howard. 'What's it like?'

'What do you mean, what's it like, its chicken.'

'Well yeah, but I want it as a proper sandwich, with chunks and stuff.'

'Chunks?' asked Vince, while Naboo screwed up his face in confusion.

'I don't go in for just one slice of meat and a scrape of butter, I like a proper sandwich'

'A proper sandwich?'

'Y'know, a proper, meaty sandwich, a man's sandwich.'

'You want a man sandwich?'

'Yea-, no, I- oh, never mind.' He finished, embarrassed.

The conversation drifted like a carrier bag in a breeze, and somehow ended up on the subject of naturism.

'Bollo not know how people do that.' Said Bollo.

'What are you on about Bollo, you're naked all the time anyway!' laughed Vince.

'Not true. Sometimes Bollo wear hat. Or Jacket in cold weather.'

'Whatever'

'Actually, its quite liberating.' Said Tara, moving the conversation back to the subject and munching casually on a sandwich.

They all looked at her. 'You've….'

'Yeah. Well, not publicly or anything you understand, but when I've been out and about and there's no-one around. Its nice, feels natural. Not so fun when a van load of ramblers go past unexpectedly though.'

Vince snorted with laughter. 'No way! What did you do?'

'Hid behind a tree until they went away. I'm so glad no-one saw me, I was so embarrassed as it was.'

'Pass the crisps please Naboo.' Asked Howard. No response. 'Naboo!'

'What? Oh, sorry. I was thinking about…' He caught himself. 'Um, here.' He finished, passing the crisps over.

After lunch, Tara set about assigning tasks for each of them so they could get the camp set up as quickly as possible. She and Naboo would take care of firewood, Howard and Bollo were in charge of collecting wood to make the framework for beds with (with Tara's expertise, as none of the others had the first clue about how to live in the wild, no matter how much Howard liked to pretend he did) and Vince was told to gather together lots of ferns and heather for them to sleep on. He grumbled and complained, but in the end he agreed as long as he could take his MP3 player with him because otherwise it was 'so boring'.

'Make sure you get plenty of pine knots.' Tara said to Naboo as they ambled through the woodland.

'Of what?' he said, arms already full of sticks.

'Pine knots. The bits where branches join onto the trunk of pine trees, they burn nice and hot and bright.'

'Ray Mears again?'

She laughed. 'Yeah.'

He watched as she knelt down and tugged one of the aforementioned pine knots from an old tree trunk. 'You really wander around naked sometimes?'

She blushed. 'Yeah.'

'You think I might join you one day?'

She smiled coyly and walked over to him. 'Play your cards right…'

He smiled and pressed her up to a tree, pine knots forgotten for a good few minutes.

They got back a while later than the others, for reasons best know to them and the trees alone, to find huge piles of wood and heather waiting for them.

'Oh guys, excellent work!' cried Tara, examining the long narrow shafts of wood that Howard and Bollo had retrieved. 'These are perfect!'

She showed them how to split the wood and lay it across with smaller branches, then cover it with the heather and ferns that Vince had collected (very carefully, to avoid any stains), and in no time they'd assembled four beds in a circle – one each for Howard, Vince and Bollo, and a slightly larger one for Naboo and Tara.

They lit the fire and put up the tarpaulin up, and before they knew it night was drawing in around them as they crawled into their sleeping bags and listened to the sounds of the night.

'This is creepy.' Said Vince.

'It would only be creepy if we were in a horror movie Vince, which I assure you we're not.'

'How d'you know?'

She sat up a little. 'I suppose I don't. Do you feel like we're in a horror film?'

'Dunno. If we were though, there's almost always couple, that's you two, and someone rational minded, that's Howard, I'm the eye candy, and someone says that we'll all be fine…'

They looked over at Bollo.

'Oh – don't worry, we shall be fine' he said, as though awkwardly reciting a script.

'Look, I'm sure we're not in a horror film, surely we'd know.' Said Howard.

'Rational minded.' Vince muttered to himself, looking cautiously around him.

Naboo ignored him and replied to Howard. 'I dunno. Do people in horror films ever look like they know they're in a horror film?'

'I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be, I mean, whose to say anything's real, we could all be figments of each others imagination, or characters in a play written by a giant ant.'** (A/N – no I do not suffer under the delusion of being a giant ant. In case you haven't noticed, this is a story, not a play.)**

They took a moment to contemplate this.

'Well.' Said Naboo. 'If that's true, I like what its written so far.' He rolled across and kissed Tara on the cheek, making her smile.

They chatted idly as the fire burned steadily, until they began to hear a faint pitter-patter in the woodland around them.

'Oh great.'

'What's up?' asked Tara.

'Its starting to rain'

'So? We're covered up, and off the ground, what are you worried about?'

'Still, its not nice to be sleeping outside while its raining is it?'

'Actually-' she caught sight of their faces in the firelight. 'you all want to go sleep in the vans, don't you?' They nodded. 'Alright.' She sighed.

They gathered up their sleeping bags and hurried back to the vans as the rain grew heavier. Tara and Naboo slept in her van and Howard, Vince and Bollo slept in the other one.

Tara and Naboo folded the back seat into a double bed and worked out a way of zipping their sleeping bags together. She fell asleep almost straight away in Naboo's arms; he watched her for a little while before also nodding off.

_Meanwhile…_

'For gods sake Vince!' cried Howard, as Vince got up to look out of the window for the fifth time in as many minutes. 'They're both adults, its not really any of your business what they've doing!'

'Of course it is, she's my sister' he said, peeping through the curtains like a nosy housewife.

'Exactly, you should trust her. Besides' he said, getting up and snapping the curtains shut again. 'If you are right and you keep looking through those curtains, you might see something you don't want to.'

Vince quickly got back into his sleeping bag. 'Its not that I don't trust Tara… but Naboo's a lot older, and..'

'She is 20 years old Vince.'

'Not to me.'

'Eh?'

'She's my little sister, I saw her grow up, saw her when she was 6 asking the elephants if their skin was like that because they'd been in the bath for too long, and when she was scared of the futon because it looked like it had teeth, and-'

'Don't worry Vince' Bollo interrupted from the front of the van. 'Naboo good man. He know that if he try anything, you break his arm.'

They had all settled down fairly soon afterwards, and were just dozing off when they heard a noise from outside the van. They all sat up at the unexpected disturbance.

'What was that?' cried Howard, flicking on his torch.

'Its not arm-breaking time is it?' asked Vince sleepily.

'Don't start that again.' Howard sighed. He then frowned and looked a little uneasy. 'It wasn't a human noise…'

Bollo's keen gorilla eyes were peering into the darkness outside. 'It has woken Naboo and Tara as well.'

In the other van, Tara was looking over Naboo's shoulder. 'It was probably the wind.'

'Nah, that weren't the wind.' He replied, looking across at Bollo and nodding as a signal for the others to come over to the slightly homelier van.

'What was it?' asked Vince, munching on a bar of chocolate he'd found.

'It was weird' said Tara. 'Like a howl, but…. different'

Howard nodded. An unearthly chill had gone through him when he'd heard it.

'What?!' Naboo and Bollo had been stood at the front of the van, where Bollo had been showing the tiny shaman where they were on the map.

'What's the matter?' asked Tara.

'Is this where we are?' Asked Naboo, pointing on the map.

'Yeah…'

'Do you know what this means?' he cried, waving the map around. 'Valley of the Gnarg!'

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three coming atcha like a kestral...a pressie for my fifties wifey because shes leaving me for week... trial separation and whatnot. so yeah, please read and review!**

Tara, Vince and Howard looked at each other in bewilderment.

'I got a bad feeling about this' muttered Bollo.

'Bollo, cover up those windows' Naboo commanded. Tara got up to help him secure the velcroed blackout curtains she'd put up. 'I could put the tarp over as well if that would help, we can tied it from in here'

'Wouldn't you have to go outside to pull it over though?'

'Yeah..'

'No, no-ones going outside' he said firmly.

'How'd you tie it in here?' asked Howard, puzzled.

'I put a flap in the floor by the doors there, the bit underneath's sunk a bit and I drilled holes in it so I could thread the ropes through, and then-'

'Tara, please!' Naboo cried. 'You don't know how serious this it, there's a Gnarg out there!'

'Sorry. What is a Gnarg?'

He looked up from her face, seemingly to a far distant place. 'The Gnarg is an ancient and dangerous beast…

'Many years ago, the earth was covered with mythical beings, but they all began to die out. The Gnarg was one of the few that survived, and it began terrorising the local people…'

_One thousand nine hundred and fifty years ago..._

'Hurry children!' Manshk looked fearfully behind her as the howl grew louder. They ran into a cave, with a narrow passageway at the end – the Gnarg would never fit down it.

It threw itself against the opening again and again, but eventually gave up and left the cave, in search of easier prey. Manshk and her children hurried back to their hut.

'Its got to stop Klauk!' she cried. 'It was almost in our back garden earlier!'

Her husband Klauk looked up from his mead. 'Don't worry my fine young wench. The Gnarg is soon to be no more, for Krishnuk the Brave has announced that we are to hunt for it, and that man which slays it shall be greatly honoured with beans and chalk.'

The men gathered in a circle in a clearing in the forest. As soon as they'd all arrived, Krishnak the Brave had bellowed that they must find a way to be rid of the Gnarg. However, that seemed to be all he had to say – he was a far better warrior than chairman of meetings – and the floor was open. Very open.

'We should run the Gnarg off the cliff!' cried one man.

'No, each man should take on the Gnarg single-handed, and he who kills it shall be declared the most heroic of all of us!' cried another. A few more bellowed their approval.

'No, no!' a smaller man, named Anka, cried. 'We should not kill the Gnarg, it is only doing what is natural for it! We should try to drive it away from the village, and let it settle elsewhere!'

There were moans from all around.

'Are you also planning to suggest, that we try to understand the Gnarg, as you wished us to 'understand' the Narhu beast?? That we should lie down on the furs with it at night? Asked Diakun

'The Gnarg need not be our enemy!'

'So you think we should befriend the Gnarg, and try to ask it to leave the village, Anka? And what about when it sets upon another village, and they come in search of vengeance, hmm? We shall be forced to perform the dance of Halmora to convey our apologies, and speaking for myself, I do not wish to wear those costumes again! The tinsel itches.'

'Perhaps, Anka, you should take your 'spork' and your ideas of harmony to the other side of the river' said Diakun, as someone else muttered something. 'What did you say?'

'I said, everyone hates the tinsel, it itches and it gets in the way when we do the Shuffle of Repentance, so why don't we change the costumes, so there isn't any tinsel anymore?'

There were various mutterings in the crowd. Change the tinsel?

'Oh yeah…..'

'What do you mean, 'oh yeah'?! We cant change the tinsel, it's a traditional part of the costume of the dance of Halmora'

'But it inhibits freedom of movement! We can't perform the dance properly with it, we'd be far better off without.'

'But it wouldn't be the dance of Halmora without the tinsel!'

'The tinsel only hinders the dance, it doesn't reach its full potential with that sparkly nonsense.'

'You cannot describe the tinsel of the dance of Halmora as 'sparkly nonsense'!'

'Unless I am much mistaken, I just did!'

'The tinsel is a vital ingredient, it-'

'Yeah, enough with the tinsel talk Naboo,' interrupted Vince. 'What happened with the Gnarg?'

'I'm getting to that! Tinsels important..' he mumbled.

'Really?'

'No, not really.'

'ingredient, it signifies the-'

'Naboo!'

'Alright. They finally decided that they would fight the Gnarg in two days time, giving them plenty of time to prepare. They polished and sharpened their swords, swung their axes in practice, tested battle cries on each other, and ate fried chicken from a bucket. Their suits of armour were-'

'Did they have maces?' asked Vince.

'What?'

'Maces, y'know, them spiky club things'

'No, just, stop interrupting will you, you're ruining the mood' He continued. '-re-fitted and they passed around the holy-'

'Sorry.'

'-shoe full of Baileys, to lift their spirits for the great but dangerous battle.

'Finally the day itself arrived. The men marched from the village at first light, waving a jovial farewell to their wives and telling them to get the sink fixed by the time they got back. They marched through the forest, alert but feeling confident, when the Gnarg suddenly leapt over the top of a small cliff onto the back of the group, the majority of which were the older soldiers who really just fancied a day away from sitting round the fire reminiscing. Those who weren't instantly crushed by the beast suffered heart attacks from the shock. The rest of the group turned sharply and drew their weapons. A few of them got a couple of good swings in, but the Gnarg was too quick for them, and with two mighty swipes of his paw seven more men were down. The others fought valiantly, but were sadly beaten. Once the Gnarg had tired of the fight and disappeared, those who were still in fairly good health helped carry the wounded and the dead back to the village.

'The women ran to meet them in excitement, thinking that their terror had finally been vanquished. But when they saw the remaining men, covered in blood and limping, their faces fell in dismay. After they'd tended the wounds of their husbands, sons and fathers, they decided to take matters into their own hands, feeling that the solution needed a woman's touch.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here it is then, sorry its been a week or however long! Happy Easter to you all by the way. Theres a teeny tiny bit in this thats important for another fic, but thats a little way in the future yet so you'll probably have forgotten by then, but I thought you might like to know!**

'They travelled up the hill to see the wise woman to ask her advice. She told them that they had no chance of destroying the Gnarg, as it was too strong even for her to combat with magic, but she did know a spell to bind the beast to the valley, and if they were to move then it would not affect them, or anyone else. They decided this to be the best option, and hurried back to the village to begin packing.

'They made stretchers for the wounded from wood and animal skins, and packed everything else onto mules and overweight children who could do with some exercise. The group travelled slowly up the hill and out of the valley, where they cast the spell.

'The wise woman instructed them to stand in a semi-circle, and told some of them to hold flaming torches and smoking herbs. She began to chant.

'Akka Makka Luula, Shabba dabba Dooah, Ansum Morema Larkey' She indicated that it was time for the twelve people standing closest to her to throw the magic dust she'd given them into the air, to seal the spell, and from then onwards, the Gnarg was forever bound to that valley.' Finished Naboo.

'What happened to the villagers?' asked Tara.

'They got as far as the tip of the hill and were killed by two herds of Alamanoes stampeding towards each other in the hope that the other group would turn away first.'

'Which of them turned away first?' asked Tara.

'Neither, they're really stupid.'

'So what happened to the Gnarg?'

'Well, it must still be here, trapped. No-one would be stupid enough to lift the spell, not even Saboo.'

'What are we gonna do then?'

'There's no way we can go outside, not while its still dark anyway. We'll have to stay in here for tonight.'

'All of us in this van? How're we gonna fit?' asked Vince

'Well, I know the beds only a double but Naboo and I are only small so we could fit at least one other person in there too. The front seats a bench so someone could possibly lie on that' said Tara. 'There used to be fold-down beds up in the ceiling but I took them down.'

They tried a few different arrangements until they worked out that the least uncomfortable way to sleep was with Tara, Vince, Naboo and Howard sharing the bed and Bollo lying in the front.

'Tara, will you stop touching my legs with your feet, they're freezing!' cried Vince, his face illuminated by the moonlight.

'Its not my fault, they're always cold. And anyway, its not like there's a lot of other space to put them in.'

'Don't you have any bedsocks?'

'Somewhere. Do you want me to get up and get them?'

'Yeah, go on or my legs will turn to icicles in boots.'

'You're not still wearing your boots!'

'Yeah.'

'Take 'em off, I'm not having them dirtying up my bed.' She said, sitting up and reaching over him and Naboo to a cupboard to retrieve the bedsocks.

'They're in pristine condition alright, I paid a lot of money for these, I'm not having them get dirty.'

After everyone's feet had been sorted out, Vince and Tara fell asleep and slept soundly until the morning, having grown up in the forest and having to sleep wherever they could. Howard, Naboo and Bollo slept fitfully at best, and engaged in whispered conversations when awake.

'If this Gnarg is so old, how did you know about it Naboo? I thought you only came to earth in the seventies?'

'I had to do loads of research on all sorts of creatures to become a shaman, it was one of the exams, 'Crazy Creatures and Batty Beasts''

'You took exams to become a shaman? I thought you were just… born one.'

'Well, you gotta have abilities to be one to begin with, but you gotta take exams to become registered and work for the Board of Shaman.'

Tara stirred in her sleep and snuggled closer to Naboo, something which a few seconds beforehand, he wouldn't have thought possible. Led on his side facing the pair of them, Vince being on the other side of Naboo, Howard smiled a little. 'Does Tara know about all that, your past and everything?'

'She knows bits. If she asks, I tell her. S'a lot of stuff though, some of it she might never know.'

Howard considered this. 'I suppose you can't tell people everything, I mean, if you told someone your whole life story, for a start they'd probably be really bored and walk off, but also you might not have so much to talk about, I mean, you couldn't tell any stories of what happened to you when you were younger because they'd already know them all, and-' Howard looked back at Naboo. He was fast asleep, his head resting on Tara's. 'Oh.'

'Howard.' Grunted Bollo from the front of the van.

'Yeah?'

'Shut up and go to sleep.'

* * *

Tara was the first to wake in the morning, when Vince kicked her in his sleep. She jerked awake, and in turn woke Naboo, who was slightly groggy but still a little alarmed.

He sat up. 'What, what's happening, is it the Gnarg?'

'Relax, Vince kicked me. Oi, you,' she elbowed him. 'Wake up.'

Naboo woke Howard as well, and Bollo stirred at the front of the van. They looked at each other, then to the back doors of the van, wondering if the deadly Gnarg was still outside waiting for them.

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**FINALLY! Sorry this chapters taken so long, first I had trouble finishing it because it was hard and sometimes my brian just doesn't work, and for the past couple of days has been a silly bugger and wouldnt let me upload. But anyway, here it is, final chapter, thank you to everyone whose reviewed, hopfully they'll be a new story up soon, I'm working on two at the moment.**

They slipped shoes on, and opened the doors cautiously, poking their heads out. Tara seemed keen to get out and have a look, but Naboo was sure to go first, in case the Gnarg was about to pounce.

Just as they'd all emerged, they heard a noise on the other side of the van. Naboo instinctively stepped in front of the group, Tara especially, and threw his arms out protectively, as a large brown creature leapt out in front of them.

They yelped with surprise and fear, then looked a bit puzzled as Naboo dropped his arms and sighed, looking slightly annoyed.

'_That's_ a Gnarg?' asked Tara. 'It's so.. cute.'

She was right. The animal looked rather like an oversized dog, or perhaps a small horse. It had long silky hair and large brown eyes, soulful and innocent like a fawn's. It sat staring at them, head on one side.

Naboo sighed again. 'Its not a Gnarg. He went up to it and patted it on the head. 'Its an Oupla. They're harmless.'

Convinced, the others followed him and petted the beast, who, pleased the attention, rolled over so they could rub its belly, almost crushing Tara on its way. It let out a howl of pleasure, the same sound they'd heard last night. Only now, in the early morning sunshine, it seemed far less threatening.

Naboo, though obviously relieved that it wasn't a Gnarg, seemed rather baffled. 'But… it said valley of the Gnarg! Lemme see…' he muttered, walking back to the van to have another look at the map while the others played with the Oupla, rubbing its belly and throwing it sticks, much to the beasts delight.

Tara in particular appeared to be having a lot of fun.

'There's no way Tara.'

'Eh?'

'I know what you're thinking, I see through you like a window! You wanna keep it, don't you?'

'…..No..' he looked at her. 'Yes.' She admitted meekly.

'Look at the size of it, it'd never fit in the van!'

'It could bound along behind maybe. Or you guys could keep it!'

'Come on!'

'Well, Naboo said he had one as a pet once, he must've kept it somewhere!'

'Where is Naboo anyway?'

They went back to the van (the Oupla following them) to see Naboo sat cross-legged, staring intently into his crystal ball.

'Hey, Nab-' Vince began, but Bollo silenced him.

'No, do not interrupt.'

'Why, what's he doing?'

'Bollo not know. But whenever Naboo sits with crystal ball, it always look important.'

Naboo finally blinked and slowly raised his head, readjusting to his surroundings. He looked annoyed.

Vince judged that it was safe to talk now. 'What's going on, Naboo?'

'I've been speaking to Yakoo, head of the Board of Shaman. He said that there used to be a Gnarg here but because it was dangerous and had no magical or medical use, the board had it killed. He swears there was a memo.' He said, climbing out of the van.

'So we all slept in that van all night for no reason?' Asked Howard, looking frustrated.

Naboo looked sheepish. 'Yeah. Sorry.'

The others walked began the walk back to the camp with the Oupla, quietly angry that they had spent the night in such cramped conditions, though nothing could be done about it now. Tara stepped closer to Naboo and kissed him. 'It doesn't matter.'

They stayed a few more days, even though it rained again the next night – afterwards they all agreed with Tara that being curled up in a sleeping bag next to a warm fire and hearing the rain in the forest around you was a pleasant experience after all. Despite Vince's protests, they'd gone for walks up and down the valley, swam in an old quarry and played cards and charades on an evening.

Tara had an amazing effect on Naboo. Before he'd started dating her he'd been perfectly likeable, but he was quiet and kept mostly to himself, whereas now he was talkative, engaging, he'd even make jokes. Tara herself didn't seem to notice the change – perhaps she'd seen it in him all along.

They cleared up the camp, following Tara's instructions to leave it exactly as they found it, and began the walk back to the vans, accompanied by the Oupla.

Tara was walking at the back with Vince, in the middle of a conversation about her and Naboo.

'We have slept together, but we haven't _slept_ together yet.'

'Oh. Why not?'

'Because. I really like Naboo, and I want something real with him, and I figured that if I keep him waiting, if all he wants is sex he'll get bored and go elsewhere, but if he does want more he'll hang around. And so far.. he's hung around.' She smiled.

Vince looked down at her as they walked. 'I've seen the way he looks at you, he'll hang around forever if need be.'

_Bloody hell, I'm not waiting that long! _Thought Tara, although to Vince she said 'And hopefully he will, right?'

Vince stuttered a little.

'I'm not a little girl anymore Vince'

'You're still little' he reasoned.

'Oi!' she laughed.

The footpath they were on slowly widened, and eventually they reached the car park. After they'd loaded everything into the two vans and Howard and Vince were arguing about the benefits of having patterned luggage straps, Naboo looked around for Tara.

She was stood petting the Oupla. When he got close to her, he could see that her eyes were glistening.

'I always hate saying goodbye to animals, because I think they must understand that you're leaving but they wouldn't really be able to understand why, y'know? It must be hard for them.' She finished sadly.

'You can still come and visit it though, or we both could.' He took her hand.

She sighed a little. 'Yeah..' She was obviously still a little upset about it, so he pulled her into him and kissed her to cheer her up. It worked wonders.

Everything was packed up, and Naboo and Tara were busy saying a long goodbye while the others were settling into the van. 'I'll see ya soon, yeah?'

''Course' They kissed again before Naboo climbed into the van and they drove off, waving their goodbyes.

Tara got into her own van, saluted the Oupla and drove out of the car park past another of the mutant squirrels.

_The End_

**Please review mon amis! xxx**


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